Monthly Archives: September 2010

First ride of the fall, and a perfect fall day! Somehow 48 degrees is more comfortable when it’s “fall” than a few days ago when it was supposedly “summer.”

Most of the regulars were missing this morning; some were off to the races (Everest Challenge near Bishop), Karl’s still out of action, Kevin (the pilot) might have been working. So just three of us, myself, Jan, and new-guy Louis, who said he’d wanted to come out for our ride for a couple years and finally made it. Of course, his first ride happened to be the ride with the smallest attendance in many months, so not exactly typical!

Jan must be flying up the hill, just look at that jacket! New-guy Louis is right on his heels.Jan set the pace up Kings, and for the first part of the climb I was doing OK until my wheezy lungs got the best of me, and I told Louis to stick to Jan’s wheel (Jan climbs at a very consistent pace). Someday, somebody’s going to show up for my ride who breathes like I do, but as yet that hasn’t happened. For those concerned about the idea of a 54 year old guy wheezing his way up the hill, I do not suffer from acute asthma, and have never, ever, had an “attack” where I couldn’t breathe. Mine is a chronic, not acute condition. Whatever, Louis has no problem breathing or climbing. And he’s young. Probably still has eyes that work without reading glasses. But he seems like a really nice guy, so despite all that, it’s hard to hate him. Still room for a little jealousy though.

Jan on west-side Old LaHonda. The coast really is clear today!Did I mention it was a perfect fall day? It really was, with the slightest of breezes, clean air, just a few wispy clouds in the sky, no fog, dry pavement. It even started warming up significantly on the far side (west-side Old LaHonda). Curiously, no rabbits out today, just the occasional deer here & there. In the end this was a typical Thursday ride, a little bit slower than a typical Tuesday ride (16.1mph average speed) and someone new for me to try to keep up with on the climbs. What more could one ask for?

Sometimes you can imagine how you want something to be or look, but the reality doesn’t quite match the dream. Not with this bike. A Project One TREK Madone that Becky worked with, which was a wedding present to a guy’s wife. It doesn’t take much to figure that she really likes pink, but there’s a lot more going with this bike than just pink. The combination of colors came out perfectly!

Project One bikes give you hundreds of color & component options, at a surprisingly affordable price. My own bike is a Madone 6-series custom-paint Project One, but nothing nearly as elaborate as what you see here. I’ll try and find a photo somewhere and post it. I’m sure if I’d had Becky do it for me, it would have been a lot more elaborate, and nicer-looking to most, but probably not “me.” That’s the cool thing about Project One. It’s all about you.

Becky’s got a lot more information about the Project One process on her blog here! Check it out and make sure to leave her comments with any questions. She’s annoyed that so many more people read and comment on my blog than hers. Never mind that I’ve been doing this for 13 years vs 18 days for her…